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Sustaining the weary with a word Isaiah 50:4-9a  I love to teach. I do not necessarily love being a teacher. Does that make sense? During the days when I was still teaching theatre and speech in college, I enjoyed (most of) my students as well as much of my classroom experience. Other aspects of the academic world were less desirable, however, and eventually I followed other paths. Teaching is integral to ministry, and thus I identify with Isaiah when he states that The lord has given me the tongue of a teacher (50:4). We know about tongues. We know that tongues can be instruments of hate and torture as well as instruments of love and comfort. From time to time, we may find that our tongues are in overdrive while our brains are still in neutral. The rest of Isaiah’s sentence is: that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. That puts a different spin on the use of our (my) tongue.  There’s plenty of weariness to go around, is there not? There are times when we may get so discouraged as to think that the entire world is weary, and wicked. There is plenty of pain to be shared, and most of us receive our due portion thereof. Some people ask: “What’s the good word?”, as a form of greeting, and most of us get tongue-tied in seeking a response. As Christians, we have the Good Word as well as lots of goods to share, and yet do so all too reluctantly and too rarely. Even though he suffered many indignities for speaking the word from God, the prophet Isaiah was determined: I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. (50:7) Nothing deterred him from using his tongue to teach and to preach and to sustain the weary with the good word from God.  Let us stand up together, Isaiah suggests, because we have the Lord God as the one who vindicates us. It is the Lord God who helps you, and me, and all who turn to him. Let us allow the Lord God to use our tongues for teaching and healing and providing comfort. In so doing, we will sustain the weary with the Good News. Not a bad time to remind ourselves of that, as we shout ‘hosannas’ while tossing palm branches on the road leading to the Passion of Jesus Christ. Not a bad time to ask ourselves what our passion is, and how that tastes and feels on our tongues. Not a bad time. So then – what’s the good news? It is the Lord God who helps me.  - Pastor Piet - March 16, 2008: Palm Sunday [r/4/9/06]